Chapter 0234 The forging machine is finally reliable
That crazy wind-driven forging machine can finally work stably. While continuously strengthening the strength of each component, the biggest secret to its success is... to make the forging hammer smaller.
When Uncle Zhou originally designed the design, he had in mind those super-large forging machines with a forging capacity of tens of thousands of tons. When he thought about it, it was definitely too exaggerated to make tens of thousands of tons by himself, but if it was too small, he would lose face.
.
At first, he thought of getting a 500-kilogram big forging hammer to get more strength, but Uncle Zhou couldn't make such a large structural part, so he could only build a 70-kilogram one. Just like that, he still felt aggrieved -
I have embarrassed myself as a time traveler.
But Uncle Zhou didn't know anything about material mechanics or structural mechanics, so he took it for granted and copied the design drawings. Just this 70-kilogram forging hammer could fool a group of human and dwarf blacksmiths.
Everyone thought that the principle was good, but the reliability was not good. All the imaginable tricks were exhausted, and finally the blacksmiths were desperate. One apprentice said something - why not make the forging hammer smaller?
Wonderful!
The blacksmiths treated a dead horse as a doctor and reduced the weight of the forging hammer to 30 kilograms. This weight can even be picked up by ordinary people and hammered twice. No one dared to tell Zhou Qingfeng this change for fear of this ambitious person.
The uncle is angry.
With this small change, the wind-powered forging machine finally stopped falling apart. Driven by the chain of the windmill, it can work non-stop, repeatedly forging red-hot bar iron. Under the sputtering sparks, the quality is stable.
Improved iron.
The forging capacity is small, but at least it works stably. In the past, high-quality steel that could only be produced by master blacksmiths hammering it repeatedly for several days is now flowing out from under the forging machine like sausages.
Although there are still issues such as carbon content, crystal structure, and heat treatment that need to be improved, this step taken by the Harmony Village Forging Ground is undoubtedly a big step in smelting technology - it saves a lot of manpower and greatly reduces the technical requirements for blacksmiths.
.
In order to earn a high salary, the gray dwarf foreman worked hard to realize the forging machine envisioned by Zhou Qingfeng. When he first saw this machine, he thought that he must learn the essence of this thing and then bring this thing to his tribe.
With this kind of machinery, gray dwarves who are good at forging will definitely gain the favor of the gods and never become more powerful and expand their power. But now the foreman is extremely depressed and extremely scared.
A dwarf needs decades of training to be able to identify minerals, grasp the temperature of fire, control the strength, and accumulate rich experience to become a master blacksmith.
But after the wind-driven forging machine is built, any apprentice can forge high-quality iron materials. It does not take decades, only a few days are enough - use iron tongs to turn the forgings over, remembering the need
How many times do you have to forge it and how difficult is it?
"Are we dwarves going to be doomed in the future?" The gray dwarf foreman sat at the door of the forge and asked Zhou Qingfeng: "With this kind of machinery, who will ask us to forge? Can we still be blacksmiths?"
Technological progress always eliminates backward crafts and types of work. This is an inevitable fact. For this bearded gray dwarf, Zhou Qingfeng could experience the gloom of his mood. So he sat down and asked: "What's your name?"
?”
"My name is Bruno, and I come from the Rockfang tribe. Of course, you don't know what the Rockfang tribe is. My hometown is in the Underdark, and my tribe is the slave of the dark elves. I escaped from the underground and walked a long way to
here."
"Bruno." Zhou Qingfeng patted the gray dwarf's broad shoulders, "I heard that your people are quite cunning."
Hahaha..., the gray dwarf foreman laughed, "Having been enslaved by those black skins for tens of thousands of years, can you expect us to still be kind dwarves? In fact, we are also enslaved by illithids. That's
More evil creatures."
"Cunning gray dwarves won't worry about work. You won't need to wield a hammer anymore, which is a good thing. But there are other tasks that need to be done in this forge. For example, looking for high-quality iron ore, can machinery replace you?
"
Bruno was stunned when he heard this, and suddenly laughed and said: "We gray dwarves live in the darkest underground, and we are the best at prospecting and mining. No one can compare with us."
"How to build a better iron-making furnace, how to distinguish which elements in the ore are beneficial and which elements are harmful, isn't it worth studying? Quenching and tempering is also a technology. The forging machine can't do it, only you can do it.
."
"Yes." Bruno slapped his thigh, "Why do I have to swing the hammer? It's hard and tiring, and I can't make much money. A master blacksmith should not only have strength, but also a brain."
The gray dwarf foreman stood up suddenly, and Zhou Qingfeng was very happy that his psychological counseling had worked. But when he thought that the gray dwarf would return to the forge in a good mood and work hard, the stocky little man ran towards the tavern with short legs.
"Hey Bruno, where are you going?"
"I want to go to the pub to have a drink and celebrate."
"It's working time now. You're not allowed to leave early, and you don't need to drink. You are the foreman and you should lead by example."
"My throat is itchy now. I will die if I don't drink."
The little dwarf ran away without a trace, and Zhou Qingfeng could only stare from behind and curse: "Asshole, come back here. Otherwise, I will deduct your wages."
Bruno pretended not to hear, and it seemed that he would not give up until he got very drunk. Zhou Qingfeng could only go into the forging field to inspect, and no one even welcomed him.
Hundreds of blacksmith apprentices are busy, manually processing the forged iron materials into weapons or tools. A dozen formal blacksmiths are assembling the second wind forging machine. With the mature design of the first one, the follow-up will be much simpler.
Already.
In addition, another windmill is being built, and a power transmission belt is being erected, which will provide more convenience to the forging yard.
Zhou Qingfeng called a human deputy foreman and asked in a low voice: "Now that our forging machine is ready for use, we should not let outsiders have access to it. Set up a separate forging workshop, and only those who have passed the political review can enter."
The deputy foreman nodded and said: "Sir Hugo, you went to explore the elven ruins a month ago, and two blacksmiths escaped from the forging field. However, they were not able to see the complete version of the forging machine, and their mastery of the technology was incomplete.
Later, some people tried to escape or sneaked in, but they were all secretly executed. Now the people operating the forging machine are all the earliest people who followed you, and they are all very reliable."
"Very good." Zhou Qingfeng expressed satisfaction, "How much equipment can the forging field produce in a month now?"
"Eight thousand arrowheads, two hundred spearheads, a hundred long knives, and fifty iron shields. In addition, we also made some iron tools, such as hoes, axes, iron pots, machetes, etc. These things we
They are all in short supply.”
The output is really not much.
In addition to weapons, Zhou Qingfeng has also known about the lack of iron tools for a long time. The people in the Black Forest are really poor, so poor. In Black Marsh Village, there were not even a few pots to boil hot water in the whole village.
.
As the population of Harmony Village increased and construction continued, tools were scarcer than weapons. The human deputy foreman complained: "We can build more things now, but the iron furnace can only produce so much molten iron."
"Then build another iron-making furnace."
"No, we are short of iron ore."
Zhou Qingfeng frowned, knowing something was wrong. Someone in the black forest was obviously dissatisfied with him!